Steve wrote down his destination word for word on a piece of paper and left it in a prominent place in the living room.
After locking the doors and windows, the two of them thundered down the rickety staircase. The greasy, yellowing walls of the old apartment building were reflective enough to show their shadows as they dashed out onto the road. On the roadside in the early morning, steam was still rising from the manhole covers.
The homeless liked sleeping on them to avoid freezing to death on winter nights. But this year was different; the coldness seemed to seep from within people's hearts.
The two small figures were wrapped in ill-fitting cotton coats, shivering in the frigid wind. On the street, faint traces of dried, dark blood could still be seen, marks from last month's suicide jump craze.
They hurried around the bloodstains, as if the bodies were still there.
"How should we get there?"
Looking at the deserted street, Steve didn't quite understand what the Great Depression meant, but observing the eerily silent street made him grasp its general idea.
"By subway, it's cheap," Baki said, pulling him toward the street corner. The nearest subway station was still a bit away; they had to go through a block.
Steve tightened his grip on his clothes, clutching the edges of his coat.
"But...I don't have any money left."
"What about your pocket money?"
Baki kept walking, continuing to pull Steve along.
"I gave it to my father last month; we had to buy groceries."
Even though that pocket money was just a pittance, not a penny could be wasted.
"I figured as much, but it's okay, today's fare is on me." Baki cheerfully patted his chest, leaping over a puddle of dirty water. "After all, I was the one who insisted on dragging you out here."
The two were off to work for money, not for fun. Baki could have gone by himself, yet he insisted on covering Steve's fare, making Steve feel a bit guilty.
"Baki..."
"Alright, don't act like a girl; we're good friends." Baki made a disdainful face. He dreaded Steve looking at him 'lovingly'; the more moved he sounded, the colder Baki felt. "Besides, we'll earn more today. If we can trade a few US cents for a heap of food, we're big winners."
The deserted street no longer held its usual bustling charm, echoing only with the sound of their footsteps, making it feel like a ghost town.
The once-pretty cars were nowhere to be seen, now just a few people occasionally wandered like The Walking Dead down the street, not even sparing them a glance, as if they didn't exist.
But by now, Steve and Baki were used to it; after that so-called 'stock market crash,' everyone had become like this.
They had discussed the issue and concluded that a 'stock market crash' must be some severe disease that turned people into fools.
They even celebrated briefly that their families hadn't turned into fools and then resumed their newspaper selling, though business was as one might expect.
...............
Weaving through the 'Living Corpses,' they entered the subway station. It was much warmer here, more crowded than on the street above, but these people looked half-dead, either lying or sitting on the ground.
They glanced numbly at the two children and quickly looked away, resuming their daze.
Baki leaned in close to Steve's ear, whispering, "If we find some food, we can't take the subway back; these people might end up eating us."
Steve glanced around as he walked quickly; he agreed with Baki. These people's stares were terrifying.
Surrounded by eerie gazes, Steve and Baki anxiously awaited the arriving subway train, hopping on as soon as it came, feeling their hearts pounding.
"Oh God." Baki crossed himself, swallowing hard. "These people seem even stranger than before, like...like..."
"Like the Dead, right? And Dead planning to eat us." Steve pressed his hand against his chest, voicing what Baki intended to say.
These people showed no human emotion; their hollow eyes were filled only with hunger and darkness.
Baki patted Steve's shoulder as they looked for a place to sit in the empty subway car, the cool seats offering them a bit of relief.
"You're right, damn it, we shouldn't have gone out today."
"It's fine, it's safe in the daytime." Steve calmed down; he knew that no matter how crazy these people got, they wouldn't bother passersby in daylight.
Before dark, they could comfortably return home by streetcar, just spending a few more US cents.
"Hopefully, we'll have good luck today."
Baki nodded, pressing his lips together tightly—a habit he had when feeling nervous.
In the pitch-black tunnel, the subway's weak lights cast an unsteady glow, their hearts a mix of nervousness.
When crowded, it wasn't noticeable, but now in its emptiness, fear crept in.
Here, it was too quiet, and the stillness sent shivers down their spines.
The seemingly endless subway car hadn't been cleaned in who knows how long, littered and stained like a harbor struck by a typhoon.
The entire subway likely had only the driver as the sole living person, which worsened their feelings, leaving only the sounds of each other's breathing and the clatter of wheels against rails.
"Should we go to the front car and chat with the driver?" After a moment of silence, Baki suggested to Steve.
"No, let's not disturb someone at work. It's just us here; it's actually quite safe."
Steve declined the suggestion, confident that their car was trouble-free.
Luckily, he did, because if they went to the front and saw the driver was also an 'Living Corpse,' driving numbly, they might have been scared out of their wits.
"The city's like a graveyard now; I visited one once, got sick right afterward." Baki told Steve again, although it added nothing to help their current predicament; he was just filling the silence.
Steve forced a smile, pulling something from his pocket to offer Baki—a crudely wrapped fruit candy.
"My mom gave me this when I left, here, have it. Something sweet will make you feel better."
Baki took the candy, breaking it in half by hitting it against a nearby rail; the cheap candy immediately cracked into two. He opened his hand and unwrapped it.
"Half for each of us."
Steve smoothly picked up half from Baki's hand, "That works."
In an era absent of the 'zombie' Concept, they managed to grasp the fear akin to experiencing a Biohazard, expanding their courage considerably from this outing.
As long as they had each other, encouraging and supporting one another, there was no challenge they couldn't overcome.
For now at least, both Steve, who was not yet Captain America, and Baki, who was not yet the Winter Soldier, thought so.